


Idealism sits in prison

by Aces_and_Roses



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Azu (Rusty Quill Gaming) (mentioned) - Freeform, First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-12 18:03:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19950535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aces_and_Roses/pseuds/Aces_and_Roses
Summary: Hamid hadn’t been intending to run directly into the middle of the fray when the fight had first begun. In fact, he and the rest of LOLOMG hadn’t even been involved in it, for once. It had just started as a bar brawl over a spilled drink and escalated to include about a third of the bar’s patrons. Hamid had just… he’d seen someone, an innocent bystander caught in the middle, a young halfling woman with dark hair and dark eyes, and she’d looked... Well, Hamid thought she looked more than a bit like Aziza.





	Idealism sits in prison

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the Hozier fic title generator (titles are the bane of my existence). Cross-posted from tumblr

Hamid hadn’t been intending to run directly into the middle of the fray when the fight had first begun. In fact, he and the rest of LOLOMG hadn’t even been involved in it, for once. It had just started as a bar brawl over a spilled drink and escalated to include about a third of the bar’s patrons. Hamid had just… he’d seen someone, an innocent bystander caught in the middle, a young halfling woman with dark hair and dark eyes, and she’d looked... Well, Hamid thought she looked more than a bit like Aziza.

Hamid knew that Aziza was dead. He wasn’t in denial about that fact, or anything similar. It was just that he saw this woman there and before he had even properly registered the sight, he was already pushing his way through the crowd of people gathered around the edge of the fight. He hadn’t even known what he was planning to do once he got in there; he didn’t want to hurt anyone, so that meant magic was out of the question, but there wasn’t really anything else he _could_ do in that situation.

No matter what he had really been intending to do, all he actually achieved was to pull the woman who looked so much like Aziza out of the very centre of the brawl more toward the edges before he got nailed in the side of the head by a broken table leg (wielded by a human easily twice his size who looked like he was made entirely of muscle). The woman ended up helping _him_ get through the crowd again and out of the bar to sit on the curb, before hurrying away with a mumbled thanks (once he assured her he had friends that would be outside momentarily).

Zolf was the first of them to make his way out of the bar, brows drawn low over his eyes and lips pressed into a thin line as he scanned the street. Hamid tried to stand up from his place on the curb, hand raised to get Zolf’s attention, only to be forced to sit back down by a wave of dizziness so strong he felt as though the world had just tilted on its axis.

(Something warm and wet trickled down the side of his face, all the way from his hairline to his jaw. When he went to wipe it off, his fingers came away stained with red.)

Hamid looked up from his hand as he heard someone say his name off to his right side, only to see Zolf crouched down next to him (when had he gotten there? Hamid couldn’t remember). He said something else that Hamid didn’t catch (or just couldn’t understand, maybe. His head felt like it was stuffed with cotton, his thoughts fuzzy and slow). Zolf frowned at him, then turned to call something over his shoulder before turning back to Hamid, adjusting his position so he was sitting on the curb as well. Seconds later Azu appeared behind Zolf, looking concerned (her armour was so _bright_. Hamid wasn’t sure how he hadn’t really noticed it before, since at that moment it forced him to squint as he looked up at her, the brightness causing a bright spike of pain to lance through his head). She laid a gentle hand on the side of his head and he felt a pleasant warmth suffuse through him, clearing the fuzz from his head as it did so.

“Thanks,” Zolf said, voice tense, his gaze remaining locked on Hamid without straying toward her for even an instant. Azu stayed where she was for a moment longer, glancing back and forth between Zolf and Hamid a few times, before she moved away, murmuring something about tending to the wounded.

Zolf stayed silent as Azu left, his jaw visibly clenched, hands squeezed into fists so tight that his knuckles turned white. Once she was gone, he finally unclenched his jaw enough to speak. “What. The gods. Were you thinking?” Hamid opened his mouth to respond, but Zolf raised a hand to stop him and continued. “Actually, don’t answer that. I know exactly what the answer is; you weren’t thinking. Because you never think. You never take a godsdamn second to think before you rush off.” Zolf took a deep breath, standing up as he did so. Hamid scrambled up as well (thankfully with no dizziness this time) and moved to stand directly in front of Zolf.

“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” Hamid asked, indignation colouring his tone. He straightened up as much as he could, trying his best to bring himself eye to eye with Zolf (and nearly managing, since he was up on the curb while Zolf stood on the street).

“I said,” Zolf growled through gritted teeth, “that you never. Godsdamn. Think.” He took a step closer to Hamid then, pushing forward into his space trying to use the few extra inches that he still had on Hamid in this position to his advantage. “You just throw yourself into danger without a thought about yourself or the people who lo-” The volume of his voice had risen as he kept speaking, so much that he was nearly shouting when he cut himself off, huffing out a breath.

“I was trying to help!” Hamid shouted back, feeling his breath quicken as he fought down the urge to step back, away from the way Zolf was getting into his face.

“And what did that achieve, huh? It got you hurt!” Another step forward.

“It was just a concussion, Zolf,” (it didn’t take much for him to figure that out, given how he’d been feeling only moments before) “and Azu took care of it!”

“This time! What about the next time, or the next?” Another step. “Eventually your luck’s gonna run out!”

They were practically nose to nose, Hamid shaking slightly as they continued to shout at each other. “What does that matter to you? I’m the one choosing to do this, to help people! I’ll deal with the consequences!”

“What does it matter to me?” Hamid could almost swear he saw a flash of hurt in Zolf’s eyes as he said that. “I care about you, Hamid! I- Oh, sod it.” Suddenly, Zolf’s hands came up to grab fistfuls of the front of Hamid’s shirt, tugging him forward until their mouths collided.

The kiss felt just as heated as their argument had been before it. They both pushed forward, hard enough to be just on the edge of painful, neither of them willing to cede even an inch to the other. Hamid grabbed Zolf’s shoulders, holding so tight he wouldn’t be surprised if they bruised, pulling him closer. In retaliation, Zolf’s tongue prodded insistently at Hamid’s lips until he finally gave in, opening his mouth under the onslaught. Hamid’s hands migrated up to Zolf’s hair, tugging at it and startling a moan out of him, so Zolf moved his hands to Hamid’s waist, guiding them closer together still.

When they finally pulled apart (though how long it had been Hamid couldn’t say) they were both panting, their foreheads resting together. “I-” Hamid’s voice sounded rough, and he swallowed before trying again. “I’m sorry, Zolf. I didn’t realize that you- I’m sorry. For not thinking.”

Zolf’s eyes were still closed as he spoke. “I’m sorry, too. For yelling. I was just… worried about you.” He drew back slightly, opening his eyes to lock his gaze with Hamid’s. “Be more careful. Please.”

Hamid simply nodded, then leaned forward once more until his face was buried in Zolf’s shoulder, his arms wrapped around the back of Zolf’s neck.

(They would talk about it, all of it, later. But right then they were both just worn out, and wanted nothing more than to just hold each other until everything seemed okay again.)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr at redactedquill, feel free to drop me a prompt there!


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